Ibérica (Oct 2006)
A new approach to register variation: the missing link
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to direct the attention of the specialists towards the notion of linguistic register in order to promote new systematic methods of analysing its current span of variation. Despite its still unclear definition and frequent amalgamation with other varieties, the movement across registers is one of the most effective and frequent communicative tools that a language has to adapt itself to the diverse private, social andprofessional settings. However, this type of variation is one of the most difficult to be perceived, learnt and correctly used by foreign speakers and, in general, all non-effective communicators. As this article shows in the first part, the existing theory and models of analysis need to be reviewed and updated in order to provide clearer distinctions and more practical parameters of research. The second part of the article proposes a basic method of approaching current register variation systematically, emphasizing the most controversial aspects in the analysis of registers and pointing out the need to overcome these difficulties in order to promote more practical studies, other useful typologies and new pedagogical materials on this type of variation.
